Lights! Camera! Action! But this isn’t a movie filmed in Hollywood with a multi-million dollar budget and a crew of hundreds, it was filmed by a passionate bike enthusiast.
Ayleen Crotty had a dream and, in 2003, when 60 bike lovers filled a micro-theater in Portland to watch movies about bikes, it became a reality. While this film screening of bike movies came from humble beginnings, it has since become a worldwide phenomenon.
Each year, hundreds of bike short films are submitted to be screened in the festival and approximately 45 are chosen by the festival’s jurors — a group of both volunteers and those selected from the bike community. These films are shared each year at the Filmed by Bike film festival weekend — which takes place at the Hollywood Theatre — full of bike rides, film showings, filmmaker events, and after-parties.
After this festival, six to eight hours of bike short films are further pared down to an hour and a half to two hours of the top films — which will then go on tour worldwide. Some cities or local community organizations host the tour every year, while others host a one-night-only special showing. Filmed by Bike has toured Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland.
For many, this is not only a film festival but a way of life. These films feature a bike story, whether a cross-country bike trip or the way it entered one’s life for the better. “A bike itself is just a frame and two wheels, but a person’s experience with a bike makes it very unique to whoever it is,” says Alden Roth, filmmaker and executive director of Filmed by Bike. “Everyone has these amazing, diverse stories they can tell — that happen to have a bike in them. The festival is about bikes but it’s so broad, there [are] drama and comedy [films], narrative films, nonfiction documentaries, films about activism and love.”
For Roth, bikes have always held a foundational role in his life. From childhood memories of riding around town in a little trailer attached behind his parents’ bikes to racing ultramarathons and ultra-bike-packing races, he has seen cycling as a mode of transportation, fun, and competition. Roth was first introduced to the organization in 2021 when his short film “Pedal Pale Ale Keg Ride” was selected for the festival. Then in 2023, when Filmed by Bike went up for sale, he and 10 other bike aficionados took it over.
As Filmed by Bike celebrates bike joy, it also commits to diversity in an oftentimes white, heterosexual, male-dominated sport. Each year, a filmmaker is selected for the BIPOC Filmmaker Grant, which provides a $1,500 grant for creating a film highlighting people of color in the cycling community. Applicants pitch their film idea, share about themselves, provide an estimated budget, and propose a film timeline. In 2023, Alfredo Trejo III — a PhD candidate for political science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) — won the grant for the film he was working on: “Pedaling With Purpose.”
For Trejo, bikes have been a constant fixture in his life — from riding on the back of his dad’s bike in a baby seat to riding around his neighborhood to using it as a main form of transportation. Now in his PhD program, riding a bike means more than just a way to get around town; it is a form of social activism. Trejo is an AIDS/LifeCycle (ALC) cyclist advocate, raising awareness and money for both the prevention and the treatment of HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles. These advocacy rides are seven-day bike trips where participants ride 545 miles for ALC.
“Pedaling With Purpose” is Trejo’s first film where he served as the director and co-producer, documenting his ALC advocacy ride. The film has been accepted to four film festivals and in each one has won an award, including: “Best Short,” “Audience Favorite,” and “Best Documentary.”
“They put their money where their mouth is,” says Trejo, sharing how Filmed by Bike’s commitment to diversity in the bike community is a truly applaudable one. “Not only do they provide BIPOC filmmakers with money for them to create their projects, they also screen their films at their film festival in Portland and when the festival goes on tour.” Filmed by Bike “says that they are ‘changing the dominant narrative about the people who love bikes to include all people who love bikes,’ and I think they are doing that,” Trejo finishes.
This year, after a short pause without a festival in 2024, Filmed by Bike is back and better than ever, celebrating bike joy at the Hollywood Theatre from May 16-18. From competitive mountain bikers to bike commuters to those who like to hit the sidewalks with their trusty training wheels, Filmed by Bike is for everyone. “When you view the world through the lens of a bike, you see everything in a different light, and I think that’s what Filmed by Bike gets to highlight,” shares Roth.
Whether your bike is your transportation, your mode of freedom, or a rusty piece of aluminum sitting in your garage, these short films inspire and connect all. To get involved with Filmed by Bike, check out their website, filmedbybike.org, or follow them on Instagram @filmedbybike.
